On the 10th June we had our third Change Manager’s Networking Event in Edinburgh.
At the event Gerard McCormack, Interim Head of Change and Partnership Delivery at the Improvement Service talked about how we will be putting the four transformation themes (outcome focused service re-design; leadership, people and culture; place and empowerment and data and business intelligence) at the centre of what we do.
We’ve been having discussions with iESE, a public sector transformation partner which helps local authorities to manage through continued financial austerity, to facilitate transformation projects that drive efficiencies and service improvements. More information on iESE here.
We’ve been working on an innovation mandate which will help councils to assess their current position of their improvement and transformation; set out where they want to go to and also help them to identify any red lines. We are working closely with Dave Hunt, Programme Manager at Clackmannanshire Council to potentially test any outputs with Clackmannanshire. If you would like to get involved or find out more information please email: Gerard.McCormack@improvementservice.org.uk
In addition, we had a presentation from Jamie Shankly and Hannah Urquhart, Transformation Programme Officers at Dumfries and Galloway Council on the councils’ transformation programme and Ruth Colston, from East Lothian Council on her work around fees and charges.
Adam Hall and Lisa Kennedy provided an update on the work they have been doing for the Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Programme and how they can support councils.
We had an interactive day with relevant speakers, breakout sessions to access expertise and practical tools to support transformation and plenty of opportunities to share stories and network.
The above digital recording summarises the key messages from the day.
Business Analysis Qualification
Scotland Excel and the Improvement Service are joining forces to deliver a new Business Analysis Programme, adopting a work-based learning methodology.
The Business Analysis Programme has a broad scope focusing on the practical application of organisational analysis through to planning and implementing outcomes of the analysis. The programme will extend to managing projects and making informed decisions from the information available, including managing stakeholders across the organisation, with an awareness of the commercial aspects of analysis and innovation. All of these components will be considered from a local government context.
Part one of the programme will focus on understanding tools for business analysis and how to apply these. The second element will look at how to make proposals and decisions for innovations.
This programme is being created in response to a national shortage of business analysis expertise and expressions of interest from councils that are keen to upskill new or aspiring business analysts.
We will be launching our first cohort in August so please get in touch with Helene Holden by emailing Helene.Holden@scotland-excel.org.uk if you would like more information or to register your place.
Professional Development Award in Project Management
Congratulations to our first two cohorts in the PDA in Project Management who have successfully completed their qualification. We've seen some great discussions, sharing of
practice and lessons learned as our cohorts have set out the justifications for their projects and then moved to project implementation.
We currently have a further four cohorts who are in progressing with their qualification, our next course will begin in September 2019, please get in touch if you would like more information or to register your place.
Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) Expansion Adam Hall, Lisa Kennedy and John Mitchell have recently joined the Improvement Service, providing dedicated business analysis and knowledge management support to councils in the ELC expansion. At the moment, the team is focused on the second round of information gathering to measure the status of Local Authorities' expansion programmes. The report that follows this data collection will allow support to be offered where it is needed. Our business analysis capability is not limited to number crunching; we can provide a range of support including identifying and implementing new ways of working and change management. If you have any queries or would like to find out more please contact ELC@improvementservice.org.uk
Change Framework Refresh The Change Framework is our SharePoint site which has a range of tools, templates, reports and council project documentation that colleagues have shared for best practice and lessons learned.
We undertook a review of the Change Framework in early 2019 which included a desktop review as well as engagement with a range of stakeholders across councils and partner organisations. This provided us with some great feedback and ideas about what works well, what you would like to see more of and how we can do things differently. In terms of development and what next, the ideas, comments and suggestions feed in nicely to our transformation offering. Huge thank you to everyone who took the time to take part in the review.
Community Planning Outcomes Profile The Improvement Service has recently developed a Community Planning Outcomes Profile. The profile is an online tool which can help you assess the lives of people in your community.
The profile can be used to support decision making by stimulating discussion; increasing the amount of intelligence available about an area and complementing professional judgment and knowledge.
To access the tool, please click here. West Dunbartonshire Council
We've held two training sessions at West Dunbartonshire Council over the last couple of months. The first was on Advanced Customer Journey Mapping and the second workshop was on Benefits Realisation. We covered several tools and techniques which attendees then applied to live projects for the advanced customer journey mapping and used a case study for the benefits realisation session.
Dundee City Council We held a benefits realisation session with colleagues in Dundee Council at the end of March, similar to West Dunbartonshire, we used a case study to walk through the framework for identifying stakeholders involved in a project, mapped benefits to project outputs and strategic objectives, and assigned appropriate performance measures.
South Lanarkshire Council Support
We are currently providing support to South Lanarkshire Council on a couple of service areas. These have included providing data review and analysis support; involvement with service reviews which will include workshops on customer journey mapping, benchmarking and critical friend assistance.
What next?
We are confirming dates for various customer journey mapping and benefits realisation sessions with several council over the summer to support particular service reviews. If you are interested in us supporting your change and transformation programme by providing practical workshops or critical friend to inform and develop your case for change please get in touch by emailing changemanagement@improvementservice.org.uk
The Change Managers Network KHub Group is an online forum where members can share information, learning and resources. It is built on good practice shared by others.
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